Pollster Stuart Elway reports that the sample of 450 voters in his most recent survey was divided in half, with each half hearing a different introduction of the gubernatorial candidates.

Gregoire led Rossi 51 percent to 41 percent when he was introduced as “Republican Dino Rossi” and she as “Democrat Chris Gregoire.” When Rossi was introduced as “Dino Rossi, who prefers the GOP party” and the governor was introduced as Chris Gregoire, “who preers the Democratic party,” Gregoire’s lead was 48 percent to 44 percent.

This is interesting because one of the byproducts of Washington’s new top two primary system is that it requires candidates to state which political party they prefer. Rossi listed himself as preferring “the GOP party.” Cynics said Rossi did this to avoid labelling himself as a Republican during an election year when the Grand Old Party was reeling.

Elway says combining the results of the dual poll gives Gregoire a 50 to 42 percent lead. The survey of 450 registered voters took place between Sept. 6-8 and had a margin of error of 4.6 percent. However the margin of error of the half-samples of voters has a margin of error of 6.5 percent, which is outside the range most polling experts are comfortable with.